Attending emergency department (ED) physicians experienced increased frustration due to difficulties using electronic health records (EHRs), according to a study published May 16 in Applied Clinical Informatics.
The implementation of EHRs increased burnout and job satisfaction among physicians. In this study, researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, examined how EHRs affected the workloads, satisfaction and productivity of ED attending physicians and residents.
“As EHRs become standard in hospitals, ease of usability—the facility with which a user can accurately and efficiently accomplish a task—has gained increased attention,” wrote first author Saif Khairat, assistant professor at School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues. “Many deficiencies exist in EHR usability, such as human errors as a result of poor interface design (i.e., when clinicians' needs are not taken into account, or the information display does not match user workflow. For EHRs to be effective in assisting with clinical reasoning and decision-making, they should be designed and developed with consideration of physicians, their tasks, and their environment.”
Researchers examined EHR usability by observing ED physicians’ interactions with the electronic platform in one-hour segments over the course of three days. Physicians then completed six patient scenarios in the EHR. Surveys measured perceived workload and satisfaction.
The study enrolled 14 physicians—43 percent were residents and 57 percent were attendings. Results showed significantly higher rates of frustration among attending physicians and when compared to residents. The main factors associated with EHR frustration included remembering menu and button names and commands use, performing tasks that were not straightforward, system speed and system reliability.
“ED physicians already have the highest levels of burnout and fourth lowest level of satisfaction among physicians and, hence, particular attention is needed to study the impact of EHR on ED physicians,” concluded Khairat. “This study investigated key EHR usability barriers in the ED particularly, the assess frustration levels among physicians based on experience, and identifying factors impacting those levels of frustrations. In our findings, we highlight the most favorable and most frustrating EHR functionalities between both groups of physicians.”
Cara joined TriMed Media in 2016 and is currently a Senior Writer for Clinical Innovation & Technology. Originating from Detroit, Michigan, she holds a Bachelors in Health Communications from Grand Valley State University.